Lecture 2: Asynchronous Use of Technology Let’s take another look at asynchronous use of technology in classrooms, but first we need a definition.

I had to laugh when I looked at the screen capture image above of the definition. I started out highlighting the ‘important’ words and you can see the result! “Student-centered teaching” means moving the teacher from the center of the teaching diagram.

In ‘student-centered teaching’ a lot of the teachers’ work takes place BEFORE class. There is a lot of planning, collecting resources, and, in general, strategic planning. WHY use student-centered learning? Here’s a blog posting that gives a very pithy explanation:

From: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tools-for-teaching-transform-direct-instruction-constructivism-rebecca-alber In this blog posting by Rebecca Alber, she provides some guidance for teachers to reflect on their teaching approaches and whether or not they might want to make some changes, including moving toward more student-centered activities. When moving to student-centered classrooms, we are not necessarily moving to asynchronous use of technology. However, typically the switch from teacher-directed learning (synchronous use of technology) to student-centered classrooms usually also includes some asynchronous use of technology. Let’s look at some asynchronous technology uses. When teachers have students use technology themselves – even outside of the classroom – that is, no doubt, asynchronous. Let’s look at that definition again:

See the part there about sharing outside the constraints of time and place. Well, that means that the technology used is outside of the classroom, outside of the classroom period, and/or outside of the school itself. See that? If all of your students have mp3 players (iPods, as an example), you could assign them a podcast to which they should listen at home or outside of your class. For example, you could have your guys sit in class with me and we all listen to a podcast of an article, such as this one about another perspective on iPads by David Williams. That would be synchronous. We would all be in the same place together, listening to the podcast.

OR --- I could, as I prefer even if teaching F2F, I could assign it to you for you to listen to it on your own time BEFORE coming to class the next time. In both cases, we would then discuss it. The former is a synchronous use of it, the latter an ansynchronous use.

See that? It’s not about the technology; it’s about how you use it. In this example with mp3 files (podcasts), the technology can be synchronous (we all listen together) or asynchronous (you assign them to listen on their own time or at a time outside of class; everyone does it in their own timeframe without you there). Sorry---that is pretty simply put, but that is it in a nut shell.

This class we are taking is asynchronous. You are doing the materials, which I developed within a framework of learning I created, but you are guiding your own learning within that framework and within a timeframe prescribed by the institution and me. Do you see that? You are taking an asynchronous online class with me.

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

To be honest, almost any technology has potential for asynchronous use. Even Smartboards, normally considered synchronous, can be turned into an asynchronous tool by the way you use it. If, for example, you use it as a learning center, through which groups of kids circle, then it might be called asynchronous in that you are not at the center of its use. Now --- purists would challenge me on this --- but --- for our purposes, it’s all about how to use the technology, not the tool itself.

We can all see that this is an asynchronous (online) class. Can you think about what a SYNCHRONOUS online class might look like? How it might work?

In the two images to the left, the video is live. The professor is online live from a remote location; sometimes there are actual students in the hosting classroom with other classrooms around the area or nation connected with live two-way interactions. You sit at your school and take the class live at whatever time it is being taught live at the host institution. This was a popular synchronous model back in the 1980s with the advent of satellite classes. In the image to the right, students are online with a live professor at a remote institution; they are interacting via the computer rather than speaking out as they are in the two images to the left above. The girl may be taking a synchronous English class from some university while the guy beside her is taking an engineering class, also live at the same time as the hosting institution. These are synchronous. Now let’s imagine these technologies as if they were asynchronous. In the two to the left above, those could be captured videos that each student would watch on his/her own devices at his own location (OR--- at a location provided by the institution) whenever he/she wishes, as long as it is on the schedule of learning for the class. Thus, the same technology in a different form could be used in a totally different type of class. For the girl and the guy to the right, they could be taking the same classes I mentioned above, but instead of connecting live into a ‘talking head’ lecture (see end of the lecture), they would be connected to captured videos, learning materials, resources, etc. --- like the class you are taking. Hopefully, now, you are beginning to see the relationship between engaging the student (curriculum), empowering them (policies, teaching strategies) and enabling them (providing the technological tools or at least allowing them.). Synchronous and asynchronous are like anything else --- they emerge based on the situation, the nature of the learners, and various cultural, political and instructional factors. Each has its place as a part of technology integration. There are situations called ‘hybrid’ or ‘blended’ instructional environments. There is a brief little lecture on that approach as well. Move on to that lecture. AN ASIDE NOTE - TALKING HEAD LECTURES

NO NO NO ---- not the rock band. (But click here to listen to them – Burning Down the House from 1983 is a favorite of mine!). When we use the term ‘talking heads’ in an educational situation, we mean someone, usually standing, in front of the class, doing the talking. If you were going to diagram the knowledge flow, it would all point FROM the speaker (professor) to the students; it is like we are pouring knowledge over the students in the home something soaks in along the way!Check out this definition at this link; see if you can combine what you see there with some of the instructional situations in which you have participated, either as the talking head (I certainly have memories of doing that) or as the person to whom the talking head is ‘talking’ – er --- teaching! See what you think. Can technology help in such situations? If so, why or why not? THINK ABOUT IT.